Welch kicks off community conversations on Tropicana Field redevelopment
By Breanne Williams
Tampa Bay Business Journal
Published: Jul 13, 2022

The transformation of Tropicana Field to the Historic Gas Plant District is equally focused on a “state-of-the-art” ballpark for the Tampa Bay Rays and community opportunity, St. Petersburg Mayor Ken Welch said.

Welch on Tuesday held the first of three community conversations to help gauge the community’s priorities for the historic Gas Plant district redevelopment. The mayor, who took office in January, on June 29 announced that he was scrapping the results of the previous administration’s request for proposals to redevelop the 86-acre property.

The Welch administration aims to release a new RFP by the end of August. While proposals must include a stadium, the Rays have not publicly committed to staying at the property, where the team’s lease on the city-owned stadium expires in 2027. In the new RFP, Welch is changing the project name to Historic Gas Plant District from Tropicana Field.

“One of the long-standing questions surrounding the Gas Plant District Redevelopment has always been our Tampa Bay Rays,” Welch said during the event. “To provide certainty, this RFP will call for a modern home for the Rays, but I want to set the right context with you tonight. This is not just a stadium project; it is a community redevelopment project based on the principles of inclusive and economic opportunity. That will include the modern, state-of-the-art home for our Rays working in collaboration with the team and the community.”

Welch thanked the team for their “spirit of collaboration” and highlighted that Rays President Brian Auld was at the event.

Tuesday’s event was held at the Foundation for a Healthy St. Pete in the Lakeview Shopping Center. The community was given a series of presentations, ranging from housing opportunities to how other cities have successfully built ballparks and surrounding mixed-use developments.

Following the series of presentations that aimed to offer ideas of what the 86-acre redevelopment project could look like, each table was asked to begin a conversation — with a moderator assigned to every table — and then outline their individual priorities. That feedback was collected and polled.

The attendees were asked to consider themes like “housing opportunities; business and job opportunities; transportation opportunities; recreational opportunities; sustainability and resiliency opportunities; arts and culture opportunities; live, work, visit; honoring the Gas Plant, fulfilling past promises and reconnecting the community.”

Two other identical sessions are planned for this month. On July 19, it will be held at the St. Petersburg College-Gibbs campus; on July 28, it will be held at the University of South Florida St. Petersburg.

“This is a once-in-a-generation opportunity,” Welch said. “The Historic Gas Plant District and current home of Tropicana Field represents not only our city’s largest redevelopment opportunity in decades, but it also represents our community’s responsibility to fulfill long-standing promises and honor the Gas Plant community and to do so in an equitable, sustainable and impactful way.”

This format mimics Welch's community conversations in December before his inauguration when he worked with the Foundation for a Healthy St. Petersburg, the St. Petersburg Downtown Partnership and USF St. Pete to gain community feedback. In December, St. Pete residents discussed their feelings on “housing opportunities for all; equitable development and business opportunities; environment, infrastructure and resilience; education and youth opportunities; and neighborhood health and safety,” according to the city.

More than 2,700 unique responses were reviewed, and Welch said he used that feedback to structure the priorities of his administration as he took office in January.